INDIANAPOLIS – In typical kneel down situations, substitutions are rare.
But this wasn't your normal situation, and Reggie Wayne isn't your average NFL player.
With just one final snap left in the Colts AFC South clinching win on Sunday, No. 87 trotted back onto the field.
He retreated behind the victory formation, in a game that was about to go final to give Wayne the Colts franchise record of 142 career wins and 209 career games played.
Those left in Lucas Oil Stadium, a number that far outweighed your typical kneel down scenario, knew what was happening.
"Reg-gie, Reg-gie, Reg-gie," was their response.
The fans were thanking No. 87, before he returned the favor a few minutes later.
"Since day one, the city of Indianapolis, the state of Indiana, they've been the best when it comes to me," Wayne said after the game.
"I appreciate them and I just want to do everything I can to keep them having a great time, just cheering for the Colts and not just myself, but these guys in the locker room as well. We just want to give it everything we have and whenever they're out there, being that 12th man as they always do. It goes bigger than us, so I appreciate everything they've done for me."
On Sunday, Wayne was the final name announced for the Colts and headed back towards his famed corner to acknowledge those fans.
This week was a little different week for Wayne.
In trying to bounce back from a one-catch performance against Cleveland, Wayne practiced on Wednesday, his normal rest day. He played with a slightly different sleeve on his injured left elbow.
Wayne is a pending free agent and, at the age of 36, he doesn't know whether there will even be a 2015 season.
With all those questions being asked this week, Wayne got back to what has allowed him to pile up such lofty numbers.
"I just basically told myself that if I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down being me," Wayne said after the Colts 10th victory in 2014.
"If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down being me. Just give me the cello and I'm going to play the tune."
Wayne's song has Jim Irsay saying he's never been closer to a player than Wayne.
An emotional postgame locker room on Sunday had Wayne receive the lone game ball, with the Colts Owner thanking the man his organization drafted back in 2001.
"The Colts organization, Mr. Irsay and his family, they've been outstanding just helping me with my career, believing in me and just giving me an opportunity to be a Colt in the beginning. It's humbling and I'm truly grateful," Wayne said after his 209th career game.
"I just want to continue on. We got a good team and like I told them in there (the locker room), 'It's about team. It isn't about me.' I just want to do everything I possibly can to help this team out so we can achieve the biggest goal."
Chuck Pagano and Wayne have known each for more than a decade, with their relationship extending well past the football field.
There was a reason Pagano wanted Wayne to get the ovation he deserved on the final play of the Colts playoff-bound victory.
"(Wayne) embodies everything that we talk about," Pagano says.
"He represents everything that Mr. Irsay talks about: faith, family and football. Resiliency, put the team first, self-sacrificing, what he's sacrificed, what he's given to this organization, what he's given to this city and this community, he is one of the all-timers. He's going to be in the Ring of Honor at some point. He'll be in the Hall of Fame at some point. He's a very, very, special, special player and a special person."
